“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is
just the place and time that the tide will turn. “

~ Harriet Beecher Stowe

I distinctly remember walking down the street that night feeling utter despair.

I couldn’t even bring myself to cry.

I had no one to turn to and no friends left. The memory of the loneliest night of my life and the emptiness that I felt still haunts me.

You see, I had been passionately in love (read: obsessed) with a man for five years. I had molded my entire life around him. His interests, his passions… his friends. I altered my appearance to keep his attention. (He had a thing for uber-skinny red heads.) I even attending the same college so that we could be close together. I wanted nothing more than to be his everything. To tame the “bad boy” like some sort of sappy heroine in a romance novel.

I completely lost my identity.

When I found out that he had been with other women throughout our entire relationship, I was devastated.

I suddenly realized that without him, I had no idea who I was. I had been a character in his play for so long that I lost sight of my true self. When our relationship ended I found myself friendless. Most of the people I had been surrounded with knew about his actions and I was not the least bit interested in keeping them in my life.

I was in so much pain and truly uncertain of myself without him. My future looked bleak.

Except that it wasn’t. I just didn’t know it at the time. A scant eight months later I was living in another state with the man that would become my husband.

Many people let their feelings of despair consume their lives and rob them of the joy that is rightfully theirs. I could have succumbed to my emotions. I could have let it consume me  and missed out on the opportunity for a new beautiful relationship with my future husband.

But I didn’t.

I held on (we’re talking white knuckle grip here people) and had faith and trusted in God’s plan for my life.

Ready for a little unsolicited advice? If you are in a dark place and feel as if you will never emerge, set your sights on the future and trust in Him. There may seem like NO WAY OUT. You may not see a light at the end of the tunnel, but it is there. Take it from one who knows.  Just white knuckle your way out of there…

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  – Jeremiah 29:11

And just like that, when I needed a little running inspiration, I found it.  Shall I share?

Isaiah 40:31:

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Hebrews 12:1

Let us run with endurance, the race set out before us.

“Run the first 10 miles with your head, the second 10 miles with your legs, and the last six miles with your heart.” - Starshine Blackford, according to Runner’s World magazine.